Girl Scouts 500 Club Celebrate At Old Tucson

It was a change of tradition and a time warp back into the 1800s when Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona took a trip to Old Tucson. Girl Scouts that sold more than 500 boxes of cookies this year were invited to spend the day at Old Tucson.

Old Tucson is a former — and sometimes active — movie studio location where John Wayne movies and western television shows were filmed in the past. I was excited to go there because my mom and I go there at least once a year and it's fun to feel like you are in Tucson in the old west days.

Imagine no cell phones, no indoor plumbing and transportation was walking, riding horses or affording a ticket on the stagecoach—It makes you think and appreciate those who lived in the hot Tucson desert before us and how they survived and worked hard to create the current city we live in.

I was happy to meet up with my friend Amelia, who I met at Girl Scout camp three years ago and we are really good friends. Her and her parents had never been to Old Tucson, so it was fun for us to enjoy the day together. Her parents were celebrating their wedding anniversary and had a great time too.

It was already hot when we checked in at the Girl Scout table. We were given our meal tickets and a reusable bag that contained water bottles and a cowboy hat. All of us 500 club girls took our place in the bleachers at the rodeo ground at Old Tucson to be greeted by our CEO and to say the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Old Tucson staff then taught line dancing to girls who wanted to participate.

Since I've been to Old Tucson several times, the parents agreed to let Amelia and I go off on our own while they took the train ride. We met back at the Grand Palace and all enjoyed the Lady Vivian show. We ate lunch, voted on next year's cookie prizes and found ways to avoid the heat and had so much fun! My mom, who loves Old Tucson and history, told us about the fire in 1995 that destroyed much of the wooden structures and how Old Tucson was rebuilt. She even has an old VHS tape when "Good Morning America" filmed its show there before the fire.

In the past seven years that I've been a Girl Scout, the 500 Club reward has always been at Breakers Water Park, but since it closed down this year, the alternative venue at Old Tucson was a great reward! If you haven't been to Old Tucson, you should check it out! They have free admission on Mother's Day and Father's Day. Visit Oldtucson.com for hours and special events.

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